UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Tuesday March 23, 2010 Volume 56 Number 26 www.upenn.edu/almanac Sherrill Adams: Inaugural TCPW-Provost Award Transition at Penn Medicine The Office of the Provost and the Trustees Council of Penn Wom- President Amy Gutmann announced that Dr. Ar- en announced that Dr. Sherrill Adams, professor of biochemistry in thur Rubenstein will step down as Dean of the School the School of Dental Medicine, is the inaugural recipient of their joint of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the Uni- Award of Recognition for significant contributions by Penn faculty to versity for the Health System at the end of his cur- advancing the role of women in higher education and research at Penn. rent term next year. This spring, President Gutmann Dr. Adams has taught at Penn for more than 30 years, served as will name and charge an ad hoc consultative commit- Chair of both the Faculty Senate and the biochemistry department in tee to begin the process of advising her on identify- the School of Dental Medicine, and won the Lindback Award, Penn’s ing his successor. From now through June 30, 2011, highest University-wide teaching honor, in 2002. he will “continue moving ahead with our great Penn In making its selection from a group of extremely strong nomi- Medicine and University teams to realize our ambi- nations, the award committee took note of Dr. Adams’ longstanding tious goals for Penn Medicine,” Dr. Gutmann said. advocacy for gender equity across campus, wide-ranging service to President Gutmann added that Dr. Rubenstein’s Penn, and public and private mentorship of women faculty, including transition on June 30, 2011 will mark the conclusion the establishment of a formal mentorship program for junior faculty of “ten enormously successful and productive years in the School of Dental Medicine. She will receive the award, which that have immeasurably strengthened Penn Medicine Sherrill Adams includes a $5,000 honorarium, at a ceremony on April 8. and thus the University. As Dean, EVP, and a key The Selection Committee for the Award included: Professors Rita member of the University’s senior leadership, his Barnard, SAS; Lisa Bellini, SOM; Clifford Deutschman, SOM; Antonella Grassi, SAS; Susan gracious and inclusive leadership has been one of the Margulies, SEAS; and Walter Wales, SAS. great assets of Penn Medicine and Penn. Along with his ambitious vision, commitment to broad Univer- 2010 Baccalaureate Speaker: Mitch Albom sity engagement, and strong ethical compass, his ex- Mitch Albom, an internationally renowned and best-selling au- emplary leadership has made Penn Medicine one of thor, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broad- Penn’s most eminent enterprises.” caster and musician, will be Penn’s guest speaker for the Baccalaure- The president also noted that since his arrival at ate Ceremony on Sunday, May 16. The Baccalaureate Ceremony is a Penn in 2001, “Dr. Rubenstein has strengthened Penn 50-minute interfaith program that includes music, readings, prayers, Medicine’s faculty; expanded teaching, research, and and a guest speaker. Two consecutive ceremonies will be held in Ir- clinical programs and facilities; and stabilized Penn vine Auditorium, in order to accommodate all those who wish to at- Medicine’s financial position. A tireless supporter of tend. Students whose last names begin with A through K are invited to our Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) program, he has attend the 1:30 p.m. ceremony. Students whose last names begin with taken the lead in helping to recruit distinguished inter- L through Z are invited to attend the 3 p.m. ceremony. disciplinary scholars to Penn, and seven PIK Professors Mr. Albom’s books have collectively sold over 28 million copies have one of their appointments in the School of Medi- worldwide; have been published in 41 territories and in 42 languag- cine.” Penn’s PIK ranks will expand still further thanks es around the world; and have been made into Emmy Award-winning to the Health System’s decision—under Dr. Ruben- and critically-acclaimed television movies. stein’s and Ralph Muller’s leadership—to contribute He is the author of ten books, including the newest, Have a Little $50 million to endow five new Penn Integrates Knowl- Faith. His first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, 2003, is Mitch Albom edge Professorships in neuroscience, jointly appointed the most successful US hardback first novel ever and has to date sold in the School of Medicine and other Penn schools, and over 11 million copies worldwide. Tuesdays With Morrie, (1997) his chronicle of time spent with to support University-wide programs in neuroscience. a beloved but dying college professor, spent four years on the NY Times bestseller list and is now While Dr. Rubenstein’s support of the PIK program is the most successful memoir ever published. His three best sellers, including For One More Day, among his more visible accomplishments in the facul- 2006, have been turned into successful TV movies. Oprah Winfrey produced the film version of ty arena, he is as strongly committed to reenergizing, Tuesdays With Morrie in 1999, starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria. The film garnered four expanding, and diversifying Penn Medicine’s clinical Emmy awards, including best TV film, director, actor and supporting actor. The critically ac- and basic science ranks, and has overseen the recruit- claimed Five People You Meet in Heaven aired on ABC in 2004. Directed by Lloyd Kramer, the ment of numerous chairs and institute directors who film was the most watched TV movie of the year, with 19 million viewers. Most recently, Oprah have brought continued renown to Penn. Winfrey Presents Mitch Albom’s For One More Day aired on ABC in 2007 and earned Ellen He has led an unprecedented expansion in Penn Burstyn a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Medicine’s clinical and research facilities. The Perel- An award-winning journalist and radio host, Mr. Albom wrote the screenplay for both For One man Center for Advanced Medicine provides a stun- More Day and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and is an established playwright, having au- ning, patient-friendly new home for many of Penn thored numerous pieces for the theater, including the off-Broadway version of Tuesdays With Morrie Medicine’s outpatient services, including Penn’s (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher) which has seen over 100 productions across the US and Canada. world-class Abramson Cancer Center. The construc- Mr. Albom has founded four charities, many in the metropolitan Detroit area: The Dream Fund, tion of the Roberts Proton Therapy Center—the larg- A Time To Help, and S.A.Y. Detroit, an umbrella organization for charities dedicated to improving est facility of its kind in the world—will bring hope to the lives of the neediest, including the S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic. His most recent effort, thousands of patients from around the Philadelphia re- A Hole in the Roof Foundation, helps faith groups of every denomination who care for the home- gion and the world. The Fisher Translational Research less repair the spaces in which they carry out their work. The seed that gave root to the Foundation (continued on page 3) —and also inspired its name—was the hole in the roof of the I Am My Brother’s Keeper church in IN THIS ISSUE inner-city Detroit, written about in Have a Little Faith. Mr. Albom devoted an area of his website, 2 Council: Open Forum; Committee on Open Access www.mitchalbom.com/service, to hosting a directory of local and national service opportunities. He Publishing; DIS Deadline; Deaths and Memorial also raises money for literacy projects through a variety of means including his performances with 3 Penn Forum for Women Faculty; Penn’s Relay for Life; Penn Libraries to Relocate Off-Campus Shelving The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers which includes Stephen King, Dave Bar- 4 HR: Open Enrollment: April 5-16 ry, Scott Turow, Amy Tan and Ridley Pearson. Mr. Albom serves on the boards of various charities 6 HR: Upcoming Programs; RecycleMania at Penn; and, in 1999, was named National Hospice Organization’s Man of the Year. UCD Map; Earth Hour; Purchasing’s Supplier Show In 2010, Mr. Albom was named the recipient of the Red Smith Award for lifetime achieve- 7 Update; Classified Ads; CrimeStats; Out on a Limb ment by the Associated Press Sports Editors. 8 Talk About Teaching and Learning ALMANAC March 23, 2010 www.upenn.edu/almanac 1 COUNCIL Deaths Section IV.3(c) of the Council Bylaws provides that a University Council meeting A Celebration of the Life of “shall incorporate an open forum to which all members of the University community are invited and during which any member of the University community can direct questions to the Council.” John W. McCoubrey A memorial gathering will be held for All members of the University community are invited to bring issues for discussion to the John W. McCoubrey, professor emeritus University Council Open Forum of the history of art, on Saturday, April Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 4–6 p.m. 3 at 3 p.m. The memorial will be held in Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall the Ben Franklin Room on the second Individuals who want to be assured of speaking at Council must inform the Office of the Uni- floor of Houston Hall. Dr. McCoubrey versity Secretary ([email protected]) by Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Please indicate the passed away February 6, at age 86 (Al- topic you would like to discuss. Those who have not so informed the Office of the University Sec- manac February 16, 2010).